Top Stories this week on Anna Maria Island: Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009

Eye on the storm

Storms sometimes spawn waterspouts over the Gulf of Mexico, and this whirling dervish was spotted and captured Sept. 23 by an alert Nancy Ambrose from the shore near the Manatee Public Beach. The waterspouts, fueled by the moisture from the cloud and the waters below, do not frequently make landfall and are short-lived.

Voters had their say Sept. 7 in the special election to recall Anna Maria Commissioner Harry Stoltzfus, but the results were only announced Monday, Sept. 13. Anna Maria voters chose 362 to 331 votes to remove Stoltzfus from office.

On the choice of who should serve his remaining term, Gene Aubry won the balloting with 363 votes to 333 votes for Stoltzfus.

By 10 a.m. Monday, all involved parties in the special election had filed either motions or responses demanding the immediate release of the voting results from the Sept. 7 election on the recall of Anna Maria Commissioner Harry Stoltzfus.

At 1:52 p.m., the notice came from the Second District Court of Appeal that “all ballots, including absentee ballots, cast in the recall election of Sept. 7, shall be unsealed and open for public inspection.”

Bradenton Beach commissioners voted last week to move forward with a $2.66 million spending plan for 2010-11 and likely will adopt the budget this week.

The commission, meeting Sept. 7 at city hall, 107 Gulf Drive N., also unanimously adopted a resolution setting the proposed millage rate — the rate used to collect property taxes for the city — at 2.1539 mills.

Chris Pate of Holmes Beach won the grand prize in The Islander's annual Top Notch contest with his photograph of a wave-skater at White Avenue beach. Pate won $100 from the newspaper, plus gifts from Islander advertisers, including a $50 gift certificate from the Chiles Restaurants Group, a $50 certificate for Hair's to You Salon, a $25 certificate from Mister Roberts Resortwear, a $10 certificate for Minnie's Beach Cafe and the framing of the winning photo by Karly Carlson Custom Framing. The weekly winners received Islander "more-than-a-mullet wrapper" T-shirts and front-page placement of their photos. Next week, The Islander's honorable mentions in the popular contest.

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